Football Euro 2012 Update: Germany Demolishes Turkey In Allianz Arena
Germany and Turkey had both won their opening two matches in their bid for Euro 2012. Both teams were placed in Group A along with one of the host nations, Austria. It was an important match for both teams, as the Group was shaping up to be a tough one for
all the teams. These three teams were all on 6 points in their opening matches, with no clear indication of an obvious favourite.
The match was apparently a home fixture for Germany, played in one of their biggest grounds, Allianz Arena in Munich. However, there are already a large number of Turkish nationals living in Germany who fled to see the match and support the visitors. Therefore,
the home advantage to Germany was turned upside down, as the majority of spectators present in the ground were there to support the Turkish side.
It was also an important match for Mesut Ozil, the Real Madrid youngster, who is also of Turkish descent. However, his parents shifted to Germany after World War II, while Ozil grew up in Germany and developed his alliances with the nation. In the match,
he came up with the second goal, which was enough to see his side secure a victory in an otherwise hostile environment.
Ozil ran the show for his team, throughout the ninety minutes of the match. Throughout the match, he was constantly booed by the Turkish fans, whose numbers were around 30000, but he silenced them with his strong efforts on Turkish goal. Turkish goal-keeper,
Volkan Demirel, was a busy man throughout the first half, but somehow he kept the home side from scoring. However, the first goal came for Germany in the closing minutes of first half, when Miroslav Klose scored from an easy position. The move involved Muller
and Ozil, where the latter did brilliantly to set up Klose in the end.
The start of second half was slower than expected, while it was Turkey who got the first chance of the half. Turkish forward, Halil Altintop, found free space in the penalty area with only the keeper to beat. However, the German keeper, Manuel Neuer, came
up with a brilliant save, where the ball was cleared after hitting his legs. If Turkey had scored from this opportunity, the results could have been different. On the other hand, Germany regained control of the match after this slip-up, while Ozil ran the
show for his team.
In the 70th minute, Ozil provided a pass to Lukas Podolski, who had a clear chance to shot at goal. However, his fiery left-footed shot went wide of the target. After that in the 79th minute, Philipp Lahm provided a cross finding Ozil
on the other end. At this moment, Ozil made no mistake as he scored the second goal for his team. However, the youngster showed a lot of respect for his home nation, as he did not celebrate after scoring.
Although, at that point the match had already gone beyond the reach of Turkish team, but Klose made sure that there were no last minutes hiccups, as he scored in the 87th minute. Klose fed on the mistake by Turkish keeper, as he found his second
goal of the night. The match ended with an easy German victory by 3-0.
After this victory, Germany has gone on top of the table with nine points from three matches. Austria has one match in hand, but Germany has a good goal-difference of 9, which means that they would probably stay on top. Miroslav Klose has scored five goals
in three matches, which saw him going in second position behind Huntlaar. However, despite this victory, there are no real favourites in this group, as many teams are looking good enough to emerge victorious. Nevertheless, Germany has the initial edge which
would boost their confidence for future matches.
Tags: